Jeremiah 31

• 1. "In that day," says the LORD, "I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they will be my people.
• 2. I will care for the survivors as they travel through the wilderness. I will again come to give rest to the people of Israel."
• 3. Long ago the LORD said to Israel: "I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself.
• 4. I will rebuild you, my virgin Israel. You will again be happy and dance merrily with tambourines.
• 5. Again you will plant your vineyards on the mountains of Samaria and eat from your own gardens there.
• 6. The day will come when watchmen will shout from the hill country of Ephraim, `Come, let us go up to Jerusalem to worship the LORD our God.'"
• 7. Now this is what the LORD says: "Sing with joy for Israel! Shout for the greatest of nations! Shout out with praise and joy: `Save your people, O LORD, the remnant of Israel!'
• 8. For I will bring them from the north and from the distant corners of the earth. I will not forget the blind and lame, the expectant mothers and women about to give birth. A great company will return!
• 9. Tears of joy will stream down their faces, and I will lead them home with great care. They will walk beside quiet streams and not stumble. For I am Israel's father, and Ephraim is my oldest child.
• 10. "Listen to this message from the LORD, you nations of the world; proclaim it in distant coastlands: The LORD, who scattered his people, will gather them together and watch over them as a shepherd does his flock.
• 11. For the LORD has redeemed Israel from those too strong for them.
• 12. They will come home and sing songs of joy on the heights of Jerusalem. They will be radiant because of the many gifts the LORD has given them--the good crops of wheat, wine, and oil, and the healthy flocks and herds. Their life will be like a watered garden, and all their sorrows will be gone.
• 13. The young women will dance for joy, and the men--old and young--will join in the celebration. I will turn their mourning into joy. I will comfort them and exchange their sorrow for rejoicing.
• 14. I will supply the priests with an abundance of offerings. I will satisfy my people with my bounty. I, the LORD, have spoken!"
• 15. This is what the LORD says: "A cry of anguish is heard in Ramah--mourning and weeping unrestrained. Rachel weeps for her children, refusing to be comforted--for her children are dead."
• 16. But now the LORD says, "Do not weep any longer, for I will reward you. Your children will come back to you from the distant land of the enemy.
• 17. There is hope for your future," says the LORD. "Your children will come again to their own land.
• 18. I have heard Israel saying, `You disciplined me severely, but I deserved it. I was like a calf that needed to be trained for the yoke and plow. Turn me again to you and restore me, for you alone are the LORD my God.
• 19. I turned away from God, but then I was sorry. I kicked myself for my stupidity! I was thoroughly ashamed of all I did in my younger days.'
• 20. "Is not Israel still my son, my darling child?" asks the LORD. "I had to punish him, but I still love him. I long for him and surely will have mercy on him.
• 21. "Set up road signs; put up guideposts. Mark well the path by which you came. Come back again, my virgin Israel; return to your cities here.
• 22. How long will you wander, my wayward daughter? For the LORD will cause something new and different to happen--Israel will embrace her God. "
• 23. This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: "When I bring them back again, the people of Judah and its cities will again say, `The LORD bless you--O righteous home, O holy mountain!'
• 24. And city dwellers and farmers and shepherds alike will live together in peace and happiness.
• 25. For I have given rest to the weary and joy to the sorrowing."
• 26. At this, I woke up and looked around. My sleep had been very sweet.
• 27. "The time will come," says the LORD, "when I will greatly increase the population and multiply the number of cattle here in Israel and Judah.
• 28. In the past I uprooted and tore down this nation. I overthrew it, destroyed it, and brought disaster upon it. But in the future I will plant it and build it up," says the LORD.
• 29. "The people will no longer quote this proverb: `The parents eat sour grapes, but their children's mouths pucker at the taste.'
• 30. All people will die for their own sins--those who eat the sour grapes will be the ones whose mouths will pucker.
• 31. "The day will come," says the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah.
• 32. This covenant will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and brought them out of the land of Egypt. They broke that covenant, though I loved them as a husband loves his wife," says the LORD.
• 33. "But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel on that day," says the LORD. "I will put my laws in their minds, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.
• 34. And they will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will they need to teach their family, saying, `You should know the LORD.' For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will already know me," says the LORD. "And I will forgive their wickedness and will never again remember their sins."
• 35. It is the LORD who provides the sun to light the day and the moon and stars to light the night. It is he who stirs the sea into roaring waves. His name is the LORD Almighty, and this is what he says:
• 36. "I am as likely to reject my people Israel as I am to do away with the laws of nature!
• 37. Just as the heavens cannot be measured and the foundation of the earth cannot be explored, so I will not consider casting them away forever for their sins. I, the LORD, have spoken!
• 38. "The time is coming," says the LORD, "when all Jerusalem will be rebuilt for me, from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate.
• 39. A measuring line will be stretched out over the hill of Gareb and across to Goah.
• 40. And the entire area--including the graveyard and ash dump in the valley, and all the fields out to the Kidron Valley on the east as far as the Horse Gate--will be holy to the LORD. The city will never again be captured or destroyed."

Jeremiah 32

• 1. The following message came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the tenth year of the reign of Zedekiah, king of Judah. This was also the eighteenth year of the reign of King Nebuchadnezzar.
• 2. Jerusalem was under siege from the Babylonian army, and Jeremiah was imprisoned in the courtyard of the guard in the royal palace.
• 3. King Zedekiah had put him there because he continued to give this prophecy: "This is what the LORD says: I am about to hand this city over to the king of Babylon.
• 4. King Zedekiah will be captured by the Babylonians and taken to the king of Babylon to be judged and sentenced.
• 5. I will take Zedekiah to Babylon and will deal with him there. If you fight against the Babylonians, you will never succeed."
• 6. At that time the LORD sent me a message. He said,
• 7. "Your cousin Hanamel son of Shallum will come and say to you, `Buy my field at Anathoth. By law you have the right to buy it before it is offered to anyone else.'"
• 8. Then, just as the LORD had said he would, Hanamel came and visited me in the prison. He said, "Buy my field at Anathoth in the land of Benjamin. By law you have the right to buy it before it is offered to anyone else, so buy it for yourself." Then I knew for sure that the message I had heard was from the LORD.
• 9. So I bought the field at Anathoth, paying Hanamel seventeen pieces of silver for it.
• 10. I signed and sealed the deed of purchase before witnesses, weighed out the silver, and paid him.
• 11. Then I took the sealed deed and an unsealed copy of the deed, which contained the terms and conditions of the purchase,
• 12. and I handed them to Baruch son of Neriah and grandson of Mahseiah. I did all this in the presence of my cousin Hanamel, the witnesses who had signed the deed, and all the men of Judah who were there.
• 13. Then I said to Baruch as they all listened,
• 14. "The LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Take both this sealed deed and the unsealed copy, and put them into a pottery jar to preserve them for a long time.
• 15. For the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Someday people will again own property here in this land and will buy and sell houses and vineyards and fields."
• 16. Then after I had given the papers to Baruch, I prayed to the LORD:
• 17. "O Sovereign LORD! You have made the heavens and earth by your great power. Nothing is too hard for you!
• 18. You are loving and kind to thousands, though children suffer for their parents' sins. You are the great and powerful God, the LORD Almighty.
• 19. You have all wisdom and do great and mighty miracles. You are very aware of the conduct of all people, and you reward them according to their deeds.
• 20. You performed miraculous signs and wonders in the land of Egypt--things still remembered to this day! And you have continued to do great miracles in Israel and all around the world. You have made your name very great, as it is today.
• 21. "You brought Israel out of Egypt with mighty signs and wonders, with great power and overwhelming terror.
• 22. You gave the people of Israel this land that you had promised their ancestors long before--a land flowing with milk and honey.
• 23. Our ancestors came and conquered it and lived in it, but they refused to obey you or follow your law. They have hardly done one thing you told them to! That is why you have sent this terrible disaster upon them.
• 24. "See how the siege ramps have been built against the city walls! Because of war, famine, and disease, the city has been handed over to the Babylonians, who will conquer it. Everything has happened just as you said it would.
• 25. And yet, O Sovereign LORD, you have told me to buy the field--paying good money for it before these witnesses--even though the city will soon belong to the Babylonians."
• 26. Then this message came to Jeremiah from the LORD:
• 27. "I am the LORD, the God of all the peoples of the world. Is anything too hard for me?
• 28. I will hand this city over to the Babylonians and to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and he will capture it.
• 29. The Babylonians outside the walls will come in and set fire to the city. They will burn down all these houses, where the people caused my fury to rise by offering incense to Baal on the rooftops and by pouring out drink offerings to other gods.
• 30. Israel and Judah have done nothing but wrong since their earliest days. They have infuriated me with all their evil deeds," says the LORD.
• 31. "From the time this city was built until now, it has done nothing but anger me, so I am determined to get rid of it.
• 32. "The sins of Israel and Judah--the sins of the people of Jerusalem, the kings, the officials, the priests, and the prophets--stir up my anger.
• 33. My people have turned their backs on me and have refused to return. Day after day, year after year, I taught them right from wrong, but they would not listen or obey.
• 34. They have set up their abominable idols right in my own Temple, defiling it.
• 35. They have built pagan shrines to Baal in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and there they sacrifice their sons and daughters to Molech. I have never commanded such a horrible deed; it never even crossed my mind to command such a thing. What an incredible evil, causing Judah to sin so greatly!
• 36. "Now I want to say something more about this city. You have been saying, `It will fall to the king of Babylon through war, famine, and disease.' But this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says:
• 37. I will surely bring my people back again from all the countries where I will scatter them in my fury. I will bring them back to this very city and let them live in peace and safety.
• 38. They will be my people, and I will be their God.
• 39. And I will give them one heart and mind to worship me forever, for their own good and for the good of all their descendants.
• 40. "And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, promising not to stop doing good for them. I will put a desire in their hearts to worship me, and they will never leave me.
• 41. I will rejoice in doing good to them and will faithfully and wholeheartedly replant them in this land.
• 42. Just as I have sent all these calamities upon them, so I will do all the good I have promised them. I, the LORD, have spoken!
• 43. "Fields will again be bought and sold in this land about which you now say, `It has been ravaged by the Babylonians, a land where people and animals have all disappeared.'
• 44. Yes, fields will once again be bought and sold--deeds signed and sealed and witnessed--in the land of Benjamin and here in Jerusalem, in the towns of Judah and in the hill country, in the foothills of Judah and in the Negev, too. For someday I will restore prosperity to them. I, the LORD, have spoken!"

Jeremiah 33

• 1. While Jeremiah was still confined in the courtyard of the guard, the LORD gave him this second message:
• 2. "The LORD, the Maker of the heavens and earth--the LORD is his name--says this:
• 3. Ask me and I will tell you some remarkable secrets about what is going to happen here.
• 4. For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Though you have torn down the houses of this city and even the king's palace to get materials to strengthen the walls against the siege weapons of the enemy,
• 5. the Babylonians will still enter. The men of this city are already as good as dead, for I have determined to destroy them in my terrible anger. I have abandoned them because of all their wickedness.
• 6. "Nevertheless, the time will come when I will heal Jerusalem's damage and give her prosperity and peace.
• 7. I will restore the fortunes of Judah and Israel and rebuild their cities.
• 8. I will cleanse away their sins against me, and I will forgive all their sins of rebellion.
• 9. Then this city will bring me joy, glory, and honor before all the nations of the earth! The people of the world will see the good I do for my people and will tremble with awe!
• 10. "This is what the LORD says: You say, `This land has been ravaged, and the people and animals have all disappeared.' Yet in the empty streets of Jerusalem and Judah's other towns, there will be heard once more
• 11. the sounds of joy and laughter. The joyful voices of bridegrooms and brides will be heard again, along with the joyous songs of people bringing thanksgiving offerings to the LORD. They will sing, `Give thanks to the LORD Almighty, for the LORD is good. His faithful love endures forever!' For I will restore the prosperity of this land to what it was in the past, says the LORD.
• 12. "This is what the LORD Almighty says: This land--though it is now desolate and the people and animals have all disappeared--will once more see shepherds leading sheep and lambs.
• 13. Once again their flocks will prosper in the towns of the hill country, the foothills of Judah, the Negev, the land of Benjamin, the vicinity of Jerusalem, and all the towns of Judah. I, the LORD, have spoken!
• 14. "The day will come, says the LORD, when I will do for Israel and Judah all the good I have promised them.
• 15. At that time I will bring to the throne of David a righteous descendant, and he will do what is just and right throughout the land.
• 16. In that day Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will live in safety. And their motto will be `The LORD is our righteousness!'
• 17. For this is what the LORD says: David will forever have a descendant sitting on the throne of Israel.
• 18. And there will always be Levitical priests to offer burnt offerings and grain offerings and sacrifices to me."
• 19. Then this message came to Jeremiah from the LORD:
• 20. "If you can break my covenant with the day and the night so that they do not come on their usual schedule,
• 21. only then will my covenant with David, my servant, be broken. Only then will he no longer have a descendant to reign on his throne. The same is true for my covenant with the Levitical priests who minister before me.
• 22. And as the stars cannot be counted and the sand on the seashores cannot be measured, so I will multiply the descendants of David, my servant, and the Levites who minister before me."
• 23. The LORD gave another message to Jeremiah. He said,
• 24. "Have you heard what people are saying?--`The LORD chose Judah and Israel and then abandoned them!' They are sneering and saying that Israel is not worthy to be counted as a nation.
• 25. But this is the LORD's reply: I would no more reject my people than I would change my laws of night and day, of earth and sky.
• 26. I will never abandon the descendants of Jacob or David, my servant, or change the plan that David's descendants will rule the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Instead, I will restore them to their land and have mercy on them."

New Living Translation: 269 of 324 days.